Marketing Materials to Attract Customers

Marketing Materials to Attract Customers

Wondering what marketing materials are useful in attracting customers to your brand or services? Check out our list below with helpful and proven pieces that attract new and existing customers to your brand.

  1. Posters: Get the word out about products, events and other business pursuits with posters.
  2. Postcards: Send out postcards to the neighborhood and current customers to let them know about special deals, new products and other services you offer.
  3. Brochures: A well put together brochure outlining all your services and offers help further promote your business and are a great resource for cross selling.
  4. Promotional products: Did you know that most people keep promotional products for over a year, sometimes over two? And if they don’t keep it, they pass it on to others? Useful promotional products help promote your brand, well after the meeting or transaction has occurred.
  5. Wall graphics: Help get the word out about your business with wall graphics. They are able to be applied on almost any surface, both indoor and outdoor!
  6. Window clings: Place clings on your car, home, business or almost any window you can find!
  7. Floor graphics: Floor graphics help direct people through an experience, help to promote your services, and can be applied on almost any surface.
  8. Catalogs: Have lots to offer that you want to showcase to your clients? Catalogs pack a big punch and offer all your products at your clients’ fingertips.
  9. Notepads: Need to jot down ideas? A great and budget friendly option to leave with clients to brainstorm and write down notes.
  10. Labels/Decals: Labels on branded products are fantastic and can also act as reminders to get a repeat service done. Often used as a reminder, labels can help remind people of your awesome service as well as when they need to reorder or get a service redone.
  11. Vehicle graphics: Want to promote your brand to as many people as possible with very little investment? Vehicle graphics are the way to go!
  12. Stickers: Stickers can be handed out as promotions, to seal invitations and envelopes, and much more!
  13. Banners: Banners are great to promote your business to the masses, especially when shown in a major thoroughfare or high traffic area.
  14. Magnets: Stay top of mind for customers by creating fridge, locker or car magnets!
  15. Coasters: Remind people of some of your services while they are sipping their favorite beverage! Its always good to be playful and fun while promoting your brand with coasters.
  16. Envelopes: Envelopes are seen not only by the intended recipient, but also everyone that handles the mail!
  17. Folders: Folders help keep your brand information clean, neat and tidy, while also giving a polished look to any presentation.
  18. Cards: Thank you cards, invitation cards, recipe cards… you can promote your services in several ways to get your ideas heard.
  19. Coupon/punch cards: Create loyal guests and clients with coupon cards or punch cards. It helps build up brand awareness, and also offers your loyal guests a nice treat!
  20. Apparel: Staff apparel not only creates a streamlined and more tailored look, but also helps to promote your services.
  21. Calendars: Want to have your customers focus for 365 days a year? What better way to do it that with a yearly calendar?! Promote various products and services all year long and help your audience stay organized and on track.
  22. Bumper stickers: Let others help promote your business! Provide bumper stickers for your staff and clients alike to help promote your business all around town!
  23. Newsletters: Sent directly to your customers and also available at your locations, newsletters are a great tool to educate and market to your select customers with deals, information and other necessary information about your products and company.
  24. Business cards: What better way to promote and attract customers, while also giving away vital information as how to contact you for the best deals at any time.
  25. Letterhead: Writing sales proposals and letters on company letterhead are a great way to drive home your commitment to your brand and show a professional look to your customers and potential clients.
  26. BONUS! Food: who doesn’t look a good logo’d cookie! Put your logo on a cookie, lollipop, mints and more!

 

Did you know that Cascade Print Media can assist with everything on this list, and more? We are the leading print provider in the Pacific Northwest for over 55 years. We would love to partner with you to make your brand shine!

 

 

What Is Bleed In Print?

What Is Bleed In Print?

Working on a print project and confused by some terms. We’re here to help!

No printer or machine is capable of printing all the way to the edge of the paper line. This means that project must be printed on larger sheets and cut down to final desired size. That’s where bleed comes in.

Bleed is print that goes beyond the edge of the page where the sheet will be trimmed.

 

 

Standard bleed size is 1/8” or 0.125” on all sides of your project. This means that you are ordering a standard sized 8.5 x 11” poster, your submitted art should be 8.75 x 11.25”.

This allows for a more professional looking product and ensures that things are not cut off at improper places with your project. This ensures that the image will truly go all the way to the edge of the printed project and leave no white margin.

Most printers should be able to add bleed to your work, if needed, but if possible, try to add it yourself so the project comes out just like you want. A good printer should submit a proof to you for your approval prior to going to print so you can check bleed and other information is correct. Check out our post on how to choose a good printer if you have more questions.

 

Have more questions about lingo or special projects – let us help! We are your partners in print.

Essential Print Items for Any Business

Essential Print Items for Any Business

Are you starting a new business, new product, or want to spice up an existing business? We have some essential print items that will help promote your business at very little cost.

Business Cards: Business Cards are essential in any business meeting. It is small, but mighty! The small piece of paper helps to pass along vital information that allows clients and future customers know how to contact you and your teams. Before anything else, business cards should be your first piece of marketing material

 

Brochures/Catalogs: While you do not need to have a full catalog of capabilities with you at the first meeting, you should have something to leave behind. it is always good to have a concise piece of literature to leave with the client outlining your company’s capabilities and how they can benefit from your company’s abilities.

 

Presentation Folders: To transport contracts and other important documents, presentation folders help keep everything neat and clean. Presentation folders help enhance your brand as well as helps organize all necessary paperwork.

 

Pens/Writing Utensils: help drive home your brand with writing utensils. These can be left behind with clients long after the meeting, helping promote to numerous people. You never know who will end up with your writing utensils, so try to include your company name and contact information.

 

Vehicle Wraps/Magnets: Not only will people see your company vehicle in the parking lot of your clients you are meeting with, but to and from meetings as well! Vehicle wraps and magnets are a great source of advertising, seeing the most impressions than any other form of advertising.

 

Banners/Signage: Need help to promote your company? Large signage and posters help get the word out about your new business or products.

 

Apparel/Uniforms: ensure the company standards are consistent with all team members. Company branded apparel helps further promote your brand, and also ensures that all team members look professional.

 

Promotional Products: Make sure to leave customers and potential clients with a “goody” after your first meeting. It can be as something as small as a magnet or pen, to something larger like portable speakers or coffee mugs,

 

Bonus Item:

Direct Mail Campaigns: Want to let people know you are new to the area? Have a new product line you want to promote? Get the word out with direct mail campaigns! Use your existing list or find a new one based off who you want to promote to.

 

 

Sales Meeting Essentials

Sales Meeting Essentials

Need insight into sales meeting essentials? Your business will shine with beautifully printed products that showcase your company and products. Some of the first interactions you have with potential clients are through sales meetings. Make sure you have the essentials to show off your business and brand, right from the start.

Check out our quick infographic on sales essentials and how to make any meeting successful!

Cascade Print Media's Sales Meeting Checklist

 

 

 

CMYK vs RGB vs PMS – What Is The Difference?

CMYK vs RGB vs PMS – What Is The Difference?

RGB : Red Green Blue

RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue. These three colors are essentially additive light colors that are used to make new colors. When all three are combined, it creates white. When no light colors are added, it shines black. The stronger the light intensity, the brighter and more vibrant the color appears. RGB colors are considered additive colors and added to a black screen.

When to use: RGB is often used by graphic designers and others who use computers to design art. RGB can only be used on screens and other technological devices. Due to some technology limitations, our computer screens, TV screens and other device screens can’t display every color our eyes are able to see. RGB offers more colors, that are more vibrant than CMYK.

 

CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK,  and often referred to as 4-color process. It offers a larger scope of colors than RGB. Additionally, CMYK colors are considered subtractive colors and added to a white “screen”, or paper, to block out the light reflecting off paper. When adding cyan, magenta and yellow together, you would not get black unless adding them multiple times, causing more expense. Adding in a true black is time efficient and budget friendly. The CMYK color range allows for colors to be displayed more accurately and colors are presented in small, tiny, indiscernible dots to create the most accurate color possible.

When to use: CMYK is used on print materials such as paper, banners, apparel, promotional products and vehicle graphics. CMYK is best for photographs and designs that incorporate multiple colors or gradients

 

PMS: Pantone Matching System

PMS stands for Pantone Matching System and uses solid colors, sometimes known as spot colors. PMS colors are not recommended for color blending, as using multiple PMS colors can get expensive. Each Pantone color is solid and assigned a unique number to ensure consistency across print mediums. While you can convert PMS colors to CMYK colors, results often vary.

When to use: PMS is best used on logos and other branding, and best for projects with 1 to 3 solids colors without photographs or blending. It can be used to achieve colors outside the CMYK range of colors.

 

 

 

Color Process

When Best Used

Usage

Conversion

CMYK

Print Materials – especially with lots of colors Print Materials – good for blending, 2 or more colors, does not have to be solid artwork Can convert to RGB

RGB

Digital Designs Digital Screens Can convert to CMYK

PMS

Logos and Branding & Solid Colored Artwork Print Materials – no blending, 1-3 colors max, must be solid artwork Can convert to CMYK/RGB, but differences often occur

Resources: differencebetween.net, printernaational.org,

Cascade Print Media offers a wide range of options for both PMS and CMYK printing. We offer press checks upon request, so you can see your project being printed in real time, check the colors to ensure they match your branding standards, and get a tour of our facility!

Still not sure which option is best for you? Don’t worry — one of our printing experts would be happy to sit down with you to find the best options to meet your budget and ensure your project comes out exactly how you want it.

Print Marketing vs. Digital Marketing – Twenty Facts That Will Surprise You

Print Marketing vs. Digital Marketing – Twenty Facts That Will Surprise You

You may have heard the cry to reduce paper use. If you are considering a post card campaign or other types of direct mail, rack cards, brochures, or other types print marketing you might wonder whether to switch to “electronic”. The topic is well researched and the facts are crystal clear.

Effectiveness and Engagement of Print Marketing vs Digital Marketing

 

  1. 56% of customers find print marketing to be the most trustworthy type of marketing.
  2. The response rate of printed direct mail marketing is 37% higher than email direct marketing.
  3. More than 92% of 18 – 23 year old’s found printed content easier to read rather than digital.
  4. 80% of households read or browse their print advertising mail.
  5. 62% of consumers who responded to direct mail in the past three months made a purchase.
  6. At least 47% of customers report using ad-blocking technology when browsing online.
  7. The average return on printed direct mail campaigns is 1,255%.
  8. 70% of American’s say mail is more personal than the internet.
  9. Brand recall for direct mail ads was 70% higher among study participants who were exposed to direct mail ads and digital ads.
  10. 80-90% of direct mail is gets opened, while only 20-30% of email gets opened.
  11. 44% of customers visit a brand website after receiving a direct-mail marketing – 10% MORE than those who receive an email.

 

Green Responsibility – Print Marketing vs Digital Marketing

 

  1. Print is Green! Print is environmentally-friendly and one of today’s most sustainable industries. Only 17% of cut forest trees are used by the paper industry.
  2. Most paper is recycled at least seven times before adding in virgin wood fibers.
  3. 91% of consumers agreed that print and paper are sustainable ways to communicate, when responsibly produced, used, and recycled.
  4. Spam email wastes at least 33 billion kilowatt hours annually – equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 3.1 million cars using 2 billion gallons of gas.
  5. The average person wastes 2.4 times more electricity on powering a single computer than the energy used to produce the paper they use in a year.
  6. Lately some cite the “environmental stress” of sending paper documents. However, paper comes from a sustainably grown renewable resource. The demand for paper creates the economic incentive that drives continual regeneration of forests and the delivery of carbon sequestration benefits.
  7. A 2016 study found that 85% of respondents believe that companies who make negative green claims about paper are simply seeking to reduce their expenses.
  8. Roughly two-thirds of the energy used by North American pulp and paper mills is self-generated. The paper industry uses more renewable energy than any other industrial sector.
  9. The global print and paper industry accounts for only 1% of the global carbon dioxide emissions.

 

The facts are clear when it comes to using printed marketing pieces versus electronic marketing – printed marketing pieces are more effective and “green” than email and online marketing.

 

Contact us today to talk with a print marketing specialist to create a plan to help your organization to reach your goals.

 

Sources: printisbig.com, American forest & paper association, small business trends, choose print, two sides